Process and device for producing guilloches and the like



A. SCHULZE.

PROCESS AND`DEVlCE FOR PRODUCING GUILLOGHES AND THE LIKE. APPucATloN msnSEPT. 21, 1919.

l 1,391,859.v rawmdsepf, 27,1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR scHULzE, or BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR PROD'UGING GUILLUCHES AND THE LIKE.

l specification ofLetters Patent. Patented Sept. 27, 1921.v

Application filed September 2f?, 1919. Serial No. 327,012.`

The known process for producing guil-` loches or rose-engine patternsupon printing plates, especially for the printing of paper currency andthe like, consists n guiding a diamond-along the sinuous intertwiningline which forms the guilloche pattern and in removing the acid prooffilm` along this line preparatory to the etching of the plate. The linesthus drawn with diamonds are extremely lfine and hence it is necessaryto broaden themflf' a printing plate is to be made with the aid of thisprocess for eX- ample the design drawn in the film -is etched deeply into the plate and by this means a broadening of thelines to a larger orsmaller extentmay be effected,l although the scope thus affordedf isconfined to very narrow limits. The machinesemployed for producingguilloches or rose-engine patternsy are very expensive, they are slow inoperation and have a number of other draw-backs. The total number oflines required to properly cover a fairly large surface with lines asfine as those 'resulting in this process is extraordinarily large. As arule a single diamond only is employed. Machines opt erating with aplurality of diamonds, two or three for example, have been proposed andtried, but theyhave .not proven a success. Therefore it is necessary tolift the diamond and readjust it for every new line made in tracing thepattern. Evenv if the radjustment of the diamond and rearrangement ofthe machine are effected automatically, and if the work is continuedwithout interruption dayy and night, the ornamentation of a fairly largesurface with guilloches takes several days and even several weeks if thedesign is composed of dense lines.. I-f, for examp le,'a large newpattern, say a. large rosette, is to be drawn, the totaly impressionwhich the pattern will produce as a whole,cannot be v foretold withcertainty. It will be necessary veither to krest satised with a finishedunor to repeat the laborisatisfactory pattern ous process several timesuntil a patternfhas been obtained. At present the fine lines whichresult in such a process enable delicate patterns to be produced thatwill admit of their employment for paper currency, but they are notwithout disadsatisfactory vantages. In the iirst place all the lines areof the same small breadth. A broader line, whether its breadth is to beequal throughout its length, or to become alter,- natelybroader andthinner, can only be produced by drawing a number of line lines so nearto'each other that they become one duringthe lsucceeding etchingprocess. Thus, variety in the breadth of the lines forming the patterncan only be obtained in a roundabout way with considerable loss of time.The fact that the delicacy of the drawn lines permits of the drawingsbeing immediately made in ythe required or original size is an vapparent advantage only. In making printdrawings in any other manner, itis preferable tvo make the original drawings on an ping plates fordrawings, `or in reproducing enlarged scale because the inexactitudesand v errors inthe same are diminished when reproduced on a reducedscale (in engraving work also large stencil-plates are preferablyemployed from which the patterns are trans-v ferred to the actualreduced'engraving by means of a pantograph), but for several reasonsthis plan cannot be adoptedat the presf ent time in producingguilloches.. The necessity` of making l,the drawingsV straight laway intheirusual size is coupled'with the disadvantage that the motions whichthe diamond must describe are all on the same small scale, andconsequently inexactitudes and errors in the drawing are unavoidable, nomatter how well made and expensive the roseengine or guilloching machinemay be. An indirect consequence of these circumstances is that in theproduction of paper currency the photo-mechanical processes do not playso important a part and are not used to such an extent as they could be,and that, merely in `consequence of these minor circumstances, thephoto-mechanical process is not regarded to be ofthe same value as theother processes in the production lof paper currencyand is only used`for work of minor importance.

only be drawn singlyand that for this rea-, son the drawing could not bemade accu-- rately enough, especially at pointswhcre the interhnearspace was very small, so that errors or irregularities cropped up inthe` drawings which were very perceptible to the eye. On the other handthe employment of bunches of lines that approach each other so as toleave very little space and which are drawn with perfect accuracy isparticularly desirable vin order to render imitation more diiiicult.Another point worthy of notice is that, in the case of complicatedguilloches at least, only solid or unbroken lines, but no dotted ordash-and-dot lines, which assist greatly in enlivening the drawing andmaklng it more difficult to counterfeit, can be executed with the oldprocess.

The object of the present invention is to provide a means for producingguilloches which is not encumbered with the disadvantages andimperfections of the old process and .which permits of the execution,with much simpler and cheaper machines and in a fraction of the timehitherto required, of work which is not only of the same excellence asthat performed with the older appliances, vbut which is distinguishedfrom the older patterns by greater variety, better artistic effects andby its being more diicult to counterfeit. This object is accomplished bya small luminous surface or spot, or any number of such spots, beingcaused to execute motions, in a dark room opposite to a photographicapparatus and relative to its lens of the kind required for marking outthe guilloche. These motions will generally be composed of a number ofsimple motions. Each luminous image will then describe lines on thesensitive plate similarto those which the diamond executed on theacid-proof film in the old process. The small luminous surfaces may begiven the shape 'of circular disks. Lines will then be produced whichare of equal breadth throughout their lengths. If a plurality of smallluminous circular surfaces are employed, their diameters may differ sothat a number of adjacent lines of various breadths will be obtained.rllhe distances between -the neighboring surfaces may be equal orvarious. If the luminous surfaces measure more in one direction than inanother, if for example they take the form of a dash or stripe, lines ofcontinuously varying breadth may be produced. same pattern maybe madeinl various sizes simply by changing the position of the `)hotographicapparatus without at all altering the illuminating machine or themechanism which brings about the movements of Thel the luminous spots.Since any number of luminous spots may act in unison and hence acorresponding number of lines may be simultaneously drawn, a densepattern composed of a large number of lines may be produced. in averyshort time, e. g. in a few minutes. The movements which the luminousspots and the sensitive plate execute relative to each other may bebrought about by moving the luminous spots only, or by only moving thesensitive plate or the lens, or by a combination of these threemovements. If the motion is executed only by the luminous spotsthemselves, the lines or drawing which they themselves actually describewill be as much larger than the scale of the drawing produced on thesensitive plate, as the distance between the plane in which the luminousspots are situated and the lens is larger than the distance between thesensitive plate and the lens. It is therefore possible to have theactual motions executed on an enlarged .scale and hence to produce exactdrawings or patterns with a machine that is cruder and cheaper than itcould be in using the old process. The possibility of producing patternson any desired scale may be turned to account by first carrying out aguillochc or pattern on the scale on which it is to be employed so as toobtain a proper idea of the impression it will make, and by thenproducing the same guilloche on a much `larger scale so as to be able toinsert it in another drawing that has been made on the same larger scaleand which, in addition to a guilloche on the larger scale, Vcomprises anumber of other designs such as hand-drawn ornaments, letters orfigures, or other ground ornaments, which vlatter may also be producedby the new process. Composite drawings of this kind, enlarged to theextent of three to five times their ordinary size for example, areexecuted for the purpose of making the printing plate on a 'reducedscale with the aid of photo-mechanical means'. In making such plateswith the old guilloche-producing process the guilloches `lirst had to beenlarged with the aid of photographic apparatus, because the productionof original guilloches on an enlarged scale was not possible. Thepossibility of producing the original guilloches on theV desiredenlarged scale is a great benefit for the improvement of the quality ofthe drawings. The disadvantage in the old process in this respect wasthe vchief reason for dispensing altogether with the photo-mechanicalprocess in work of greater Vimportance when producing paper currency.A

The extraordinary speed with which even complicated and very denseguilloches can be executed with the aid of the new process as comparedwith the old one, renders it possible to make a number of differenttrial patterns very quickly by altering the rela- -of the luminous spotsor groups of them may fects) is also impressed tive motions of the partsof the device, and the number and'distance apart of the luminous points,etc., so as to enable the most suitable pattern to be selected for theparticiilarpurpose in mind. The trial patterns may be changed much moremethodicallv 1f, for example, it turns out thatin a iinished pattern thespace between two neigh-` boring groups of lines isrtoo large, the twocorresponding groups of luminous spots may be shifted closertogether, ornew spots may be inserted, orV the elegance of the'pattern may beimproved by shifting the eccentric of the machine. The making of a wholeseries of such patterns requires less time than the production of asingle guilloche by the old process. yBesides, by causing a number ofluminous spots Vto operate together, graphic effects Amay be produced`which either cannot be achieved at all withthe old i process or which,at best, can only be obtained in a very roundabout way with a great lossof time and with much less precision.

.New effects will result if the luminous spots are arranged in a crookedline instead of avk straight one, or in several straight or crookedlines. New peculiar effects result if separate and distinct motions areimparted to each Single group of luminous spots. All

be obscured or extinguishedat short regular intervals. being produced.lThe breaks inthe lines of the groups, if arranged' in `some suitableorder, will produce radiating effects.-

The new process also renders it possible to achieve stereoscopic effectswhich cannot be obtained in any other way and which, under certainconditions, constitute an almost perfect guard against counterfeits.yFor example` a stereoscope effect be obtained in the following manner:1f the orbitsof the luminous spots are photographed withtwo lensesplaced at a certain distance apart, instead of with one lens only, andif the plane in which the, luminous spots are located is periodicallymoved toward and from the plate, (during which operation the sensitiveplate must, of course, also be moved so as to keep the image distinct),the orbits described by tlie points will be curves lthat extend in threedirections. On the images thus produced with the two lenses beingobserved together in a stereoscopic apparatus, they will give a plasticrepresentation of the said curves. If these two images are`printed witha block in different, suitably chosen colors, e. g. in rainbow-style,and if a pattern of crossed lines of a suitable color and designed tobaffle counterfeiters (which pattern may also be made to have plasticefupon the print, then counterfeiting, either by drawn copies or byphoto-mechanical means, will be impossible.

This will result in broken lines' trol of an escapement (not shown) itis caused to revolve with its casing 4 around the axis 1 of the springthat is fixed in the base plate 2. During the turning of` the casing 4 aspur-wheel 9 fixed to a shaft 8 rolls around upon a toothed wheel 3 thatis xed to the rigid spring axis 1. At the upper end of the shaft 8 acrank 13 is fixed whose stud 12 engages with slot in the carriage 11,which slot extends perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing. l Thecarriage 11 is arranged to be shifted on guide members or rails 10arranged on the casing 4. The carriage 11 carries a box 14 in theinterior of which an illuminating agent (not shown) e. g. a mercuryvapor lamp is arranged and thetop of which is Vclosed vby a plane offrosted glass 15. Above the glass an opaque screen 16 is placed intowhich are drilled several groups of different sized holes 17. Theseholes act as small luminous surfaces or spots. Abovethe clockwork aphotographic apparatus A is arranged whose sen-v sitive surface isadjusted with respect to the screen 16. The whole device is rigged up.in a dark room. On the clockwork being.

up of the rotarymotion of the clockwork casing 4 and of the linearmotion of the carriage 11. By changing the wheel of the crank shaft, byaltering the ratio of the speed of the shaft 8 and the casing 4 and bychanging the ynumber of luminous points or the number of plates, bychangingthe size and shapeof the luminous points, by changing thedistance of the luminous points from. each other or the distancesbetween groups of points the greatest possible variety of resultantmotions and drawings may be obtained.. The resultant motions may also bemade up of-a larger number of simple mo tions and of different kinds ofmotions than those executed with the illustrated device. The sensitiveplate and the lens may also be made to execute their ownmotions. Thearrangement may also be such that the individual groups of luminouspoints execute their own special motions. The luminous spots may also becaused to move in the direction vertical to the plane of their movementand their orbits may be drawn upon a sensitive plate by two lensesinstead of one. All l of the luminous points or groups of them may beobscured or extinguished at periodic intervals. Instead of producingluminous spots by means of a frosted plate anda screen, small luminousbodies such as minute incandescent lamps may be used.

Aspecial advantage of the new process, especially if it is arranged tobe carried out with the aid of the stereoscopic appliances, is not onlythat the production of counterfeits is rendered very diflicult andpractically impossible, but also that attempted counterfeits can bequickly and surely detected by any unskilled person.

I claim:

l. A device for producing guilloches comprising means for causing aluminous spot to describe a symmetrical closed orbit coi'- responding toa desired guilloche, and photographic means for photographing thesuccessive positions of said spot in said orbit.

2. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means to cause aluminous spot to describe a symmetrical sinuous closed orbitcorresponding to a desired engineturning, photographic means distancedfrom said orbit and including a lens for photographing successivepositions of the spot in its orbit.

8. A device for producing guilloches,

comprising means for producing a luminous spot, mechanism for causingsaid means to describe a closed geometrical path, devices to reciprocatesaid means during its passage over said path, and photographic means tophotograph successive positions of said spot iii its orbit.

4;. A device for .producing guilloches,

comprising means for producing a luminous spot, mechanism for causingsaid means to move in a circular path, devices to reciprocate saidineansduring its passage over said path, and means including a lens tophotograph successive positions of said spot in its orbit.

5. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for causing anumber of luminousl spots to describe orbit-s corresponding to a desiredguilloche and means for photographing the luminous spots in the saidorbits.

6. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for causing oneor more luminous spots differing in shape from a circle to describeorbits varying in breadth and corresponding to a desired guilloclie, andmeans for photographing the luminous spots in the said orbits.

7. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for producing anumber -of luminous spots, a sensitive plate, a lens producing images ofsaid spots upon the` sensitive surface and means for moving the saidimages upon the surface along orbits corresponding to the lines of thedesired guilloclie.

8. A device for producing guilloches comprising a lens, a sensitivesurface, means for producing a number of luminous spots Whose lightimpinges upon the sensitive surface, and means for causinga relativemotion between the lens, the sensitive surface and the luminous spots,whereby the images of the luminous spots are moved on the sensitivesurface along orbits corresponding to the lines of the desiredguilloclies.

9.2A device for producing guilloclies comprising a lens, a sensitivesurface, means for producing a number ofluminous spots whose lightimpinges upon the sensitive surface, and means formoving the spots alongorbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloclies.

10. Device for producing guilloches comprising, a lens, a sensitiveplate, means for producing a number of luminous spots Whose lightimpinges upon the sensitive plate, ,and means for moving the spots alongorbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloches.

lin testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presenceof two witnesses.

ARTHUR SGHULZE.

Vitnesses:

LUDWIG Soiiirr, ADoLF Gnovii'rz.

